Mrs Claus
by manyissues101
Summary: A little girl meets Angel on Christmas Eve and thinks that she's someone she's not. But of course Angel's not going to burst her bubble.


This is based off of a prompt that MovieBuffStarlet sent me. It's probably different than what was expected, but I really think that it turned out cute. Sorry it took so long—mid-terms are evil.

Happy Holidays everyone!

I do not own, said Ali. And it was the sad, sad truth.

0----0

"Christmas is my second favorite holiday, you know." Angel was chattering to Collins, who she was also pulling around by the hand. He didn't mind so much, he was growing used to it. There was also something sort of special about being led around lit-up New York in the snow by your lover. His lover who was currently sporting one of her favorite outfits, her Santa drag, which she always pulled out this time of the year.

"Isn't so beautiful?" she sighed, stopping to look up at the freshly falling white flakes.

"Almost as beautiful as you, Angel," was his sappy, sweet reply.

Angel smiled at the cliché-ness of it before leaning in to place her face against his. Their cheeks, nipped by the frost, and frozen noses were slightly revitalized by the other's warm breath. She leaned in to press her lips against his when he suddenly jumped and pulled away, cursing.

"What?"

"I forgot—I was supposed to call my boss earlier. If I don't then I could get fired!"

Angel sighed and fished around her pockets for some change. Depositing it in her lover's hand, she pointed at the payphone across the street.

"Thanks, baby. I'll make it quick, I promise." He ran over to the phone, quickly using frozen fingers to dial.

Angel sighed. She knew that Collins didn't want to have to contact his boss when they were supposed to be spending time together, but it still bothered her. A trash can lay a few feet away, and Angel had her drumsticks in her belt. Maybe she would make an impromptu dollar or something. She dragged the metal can out to the middle of the sidewalk and sat it on its side. She squatted, worried about getting her outfit dirty. The sound that her sticks made on the metal wasn't ideal, but she was sure that she could make it work.

0----0

Collins wasn't exactly listening to his supervisor, but instead watching Angel make her music. Her enthusiasm, her passion, made him smile. Enough to the point where the ache of his face, a side effect of the smile, drowned out the sound of his boss's voice.

"Professor…Professor Collins…Thomas!"

"Oh, yeah! Sorry. What were you saying?" An irritated sigh was distinguishable from the other end. Collins gave another smile, this one tiny.

0----0

Angel had her eyes closed, just as she always did when she drummed. She wasn't concentrating so much as she was listening to what her hands were producing. It was as if all other sound stopped when she started to drum. So why was there a small whimper to her right? Angel opened warm brown eyes, only to stare back into small blue ones. It was little girl with the biggest smile she had ever seen—which was saying something because she was dating the king of smiles.

"Hey, Honey."

"Hey, Mrs. Santa Claus."

0----0

He had seen the child approach, her mother was watching from a few feet away, and seen Angel's face light up when she saw the girl. She said something to the girl, who responded, and then pulled her close and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The child's mother looked on with a smile. It was nice to see someone not afraid of Angel.

0----0

"Where's Santa?" The little girl, whose name Angel had discovered was Alicia, asked innocently. Angel pointed at Collins, who was still on the phone.

"He has to disguise himself so that no one knows who he is. See, he's on the phone with the elves now."

Alicia smiled shyly. When Angel inquired about her age, she held up five fingers. "Oh? And what would a pretty little five year old girl like you like for Christmas?"

"A pretty new dress," she slurred in that way that five year olds do.

"Well, wait right here. I've got to go get Santa's list." Angel jumped up and skipped over to Collins. He gave her an inquiring look, but she just smiled it off. She rummaged through his pockets before pulling out a piece of paper. It was their bill from their earlier dinner at the Life.

Angel skipped back across the street, paper in hand. She pretended to scan down the page until she found a name.

"Here we are, I've found you on Santa's list. Alicia, it looks to me like you've been a very good girl. Santa will be sure to bring you what you want." Angel took the little girl's hand and led her back over to her mother, who Angel whispered something to. The lady smiled, gave Angel something to write down, and was on her way with Alicia in tow, who waved goodbye to Santa and Mrs. Claus.

"What was that all about?" Collins asked, coming up from behind Angel with a smile.

"Oh, nothing. Just an unbelievably cute little girl who though we were someone else. Lets head home—I have something to get done by tomorrow morning."

"Like what?"

"You'll see."

0----0

Angel had been up all night working on a new creation. She told Collins' the story while she worked and he laughed for a few minutes. But then he seemed to realize that she was making a dress—one way too small for her. He raised his eyebrows and Angel smiled sheepishly. She couldn't resist.

0----0

On Christmas morning, a young girl was delighted to find the prettiest dress she'd ever seen waiting for her under the tree. It was an almost uncanny likeness of what she'd seen Mrs. Claus wearing the night before. Her mother told her that Santa and Mrs. Claus had come to drop it off for her with the rest of her presents.

0----0

When the rest of the Bohos asked Angel and Collins why they were late for the Christmas Brunch at the Life Café, they both just smiled.

"We had a little errand to run," Collins remarked.

"Yep. Some presents to drop off, little girls to make happy." Angel's smile was bright.

Until the year that she died, Angel secretly made dresses for Alicia, delivered them to the girl's mother, and helped the little girl to believe in her dreams.


End file.
